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Parris Island DI earns Navy Cross

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — These days, drill instructor Sgt. Aubrey McDade Jr. is making Marines to win battles, but two years ago he was saving Marines during battle.

His actions on Nov. 11, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, have earned him the Navy Cross, the Navy’s second highest award for valor. The medal was presented to him during a ceremony at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., during a recruit graduation ceremony Jan. 19.

McDade, a drill instructor with Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, was a machine-gun squad leader with 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, in Iraq in 2004.

On the night of Nov. 11, as the Marines in the platoon moved south into the city, they entered an alley where they immediately met a barrage of small-arms and machine-gun fire, according to McDade’s citation.

“In the opening seconds of the engagement, three Marines were seriously wounded as the well-positioned and expecting enemy pinned others down,” the citation states.

McDade “rushed from the rear of the platoon column toward the kill zone,” leading a machine-gun team into the alley to spray suppressive fire at insurgents.

The wounded Marines were pinned down under a blanket of gunfire that spewed furiously every time the other Marines tried to reach their injured comrades.

McDade told the platoon sergeant that he would get them.

“He just informed me that if I got hit he wasn’t going to be able to help me right then,” McDade said in an interview. “I wasn’t just going to let them sit out there like sitting ducks. They needed me, and I went.”

McDade, a fast-talking Houston native, described the alleyway as “real hot” as he dashed toward the first of the three injured Marines.

Using his body to cover the wounded leatherneck, McDade told him to pull his gear loose and then pulled the Marine over his shoulder.

“At first, he was on my shoulder, but there were a lot of rounds coming down the alleyway, so I kind of tossed him over,” he said.

McDade went back a second time, instructing the next wounded Marine to remove his gear before hauling him to safety.

The third Marine, a corporal killed in the alley, was also pulled from the kill zone.

‘Quick thinking’

McDade assisted in treating the Marines and aided in their medical evacuations.

“His quick thinking and aggressive actions were crucial in saving the lives of two of the three casualties,” the citation reads.

McDade said he’s tried to block out the horrors of that day.

Still, he said, “I can’t put it out of my mind.”

He said he shares what happened that day with his recruits. While other drill instructors may tell his story to their recruits early on, McDade makes a point of waiting to tell his recruits until they start going through the Crucible.

“I don’t want them to listen to me because I have a medal,” he said. “I want them to listen to me because I’m a Marine.”

When he was told he was going to be awarded the Navy Cross, he first said he didn’t want to accept the medal. He knew he’d be congratulated for receiving a medal, not for the pain and suffering he and his platoon went through in Iraq.

“This award, I’m accepting it for me, but at the same time I’m accepting it for all the Marines who go before and after me,” he said.